The Birth of Jacob and Esau (Gen.25).

When Sarah was 127 years old she died and Abraham buried her in Canaan in a cave he purchased from the Hittites.  Abraham sent his chief servant to Abraham’s relatives to get a wife for Isaac so he wouldn’t marry a Canaanite. Abraham’s servant prayed and he found Rebekah, the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother. Abraham’s servant gave gifts to Rebekah and her family and told them how the Lord had blessed Abraham and given everything he owned to Isaac, the child Sarah bore in her old age. Rebekah agreed and went to Canaan where she became Isaac’s wife. Later, Abraham died when he was 175 years old and Isaac and Ishmael, Abraham’s sons, buried him in Canaan in the cave Abraham he bought from the Hittites as a grave for his wife Sarah. After Abraham’s death, God blessed Isaac (Gen.24-25).  Watch the below video and read the comments below. 

God promised to make Abraham into a great nation and Isaac is a transitional figure between Abraham and the twelve tribes coming from Jacob known as Israel. Abraham’s multiple descendants were to come through Isaac but Rebekah, like Sarah forty years earlier, was barren (Genesis 25:21).  But Isaac and Rebekah didn’t take matters into their own hands as Sarah and Abraham had. We’re not told when Isaac prayed only that the Lord answered his prayer and Rebekah became pregnant (Gen. 25:21). They may have had to wait up to twenty years since Isaac married at 40 and became a father at 62. Abraham and Sarah’s example must have taught Isaac and Rebekah to trust God for there would be no Hagar and no Ishmael for them.

There were two babies struggling with one another in Rebekah’s womb, and Rebekah wondered why. We’re not told how but only that Rebekah inquired of the Lord and the will of the Lord was made known. The Lord revealed that there were two nations struggling within Rebekah’s womb. Rebekah would give birth to twin boys and it was foretold even before they were born that the older son would serve the younger (Gen. 25:23). The firstborn was named Esau and the nation of Edom would come from him. Edom means ‘red’ and they named their land Seir, which sounds like the Hebrew word for ‘hairy’. The second child was named Jacob which can mean ‘deceitful’. When the twins grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter while Jacob, being a quiet man, liked to stay among the tents.

Jacob was born grasping his brother’s heel and this episode was the beginning of a lifelong struggle. In fact, Genesis reveals the ongoing rivalry between those the Lord has chosen and those he has not (3:15, 25:23). God accepted Abel and not Cain. God chose the line of Seth and not the line of Cain. God chose Isaac and not Ishmael, and here Jacob is chosen over Esau (Romans 9:10–12):

Rebekah’s children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”

It appears that Isaac and Rebekah valued Jacob and Esau for what they could do for their parents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau who was skillful hunter and Rebekah loved Jacob. Rebekah would have remembered the prophecy but maybe she just liked Jacob being around her among the tents.

Jacob tired of waiting on God so when given an opportunity Jacob tried to trick Esau into selling his birthright. Once when Esau had been out hunting Jacob stayed behind in the camp and was cooking stew. Esau returned famished from hunting and found Jacob in the camp with a pot of stew (Gen. 25:29–30). Now instead of sharing some stew with his brother, Jacob saw this as an opportunity to take advantage of Esau. Before Jacob would give his brother any stew Jacob wanted Esau to sell him Esau’s birthright. Sadly, Esau said that the birthright was no good to him since he was about to die. Jacob demanded that Esau first swear an oath which Esau gladly did (Gen. 25:31). So Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew which Esau ate and so Esau despised his birthright.

Isaac and Rebekah had waited on God for their child but their child, Jacob, didn’t want to wait on God for the birthright. It seems that Jacob wanted the blessing more than he wanted God. This was a lesson his forefather, Abraham, learned by being called to offer up Isaac (Gen.22). Now Esau wasn’t really going to starve to death and yet Esau forsook being in the Messianic line for a single meal. Esau devoured his brother’s stew and left despising his birthright (Gen. 25:32-34). Esau considered a single meal more valuable than his spiritual birthright, while Jacob considered the birthright something to be purchased.

Neither brother deserved God’s favor which only goes to show that grace is underserved favor! Jacob’s sinful scheming illustrates that God works out His plan through very flawed people. The poor choices of God’s flawed people have consequences but they cannot frustrate God’s plans. Clearly, God’s choice of Jacob over Esau was not unfair. God graciously gave to Jacob only what Esau considered of no value. By contrast God’s Messiah, the Lord Jesus, would wholeheartedly surrender his will to do God’s will. Moreover, Jesus so valued God’s people that he gladly gave his own precious blood to purchase them for God (Rev. 1:5-6, 5:9).

The Sacrifice of Isaac (Gen.22).

The Lord established a covenant with Abraham promising him multiple descendants and a homeland to bless the world (15:5-8, 18-21). Being barren, Sarah proposed she raise a family through her Hagar, her Egyptian maidservant (16:2). Abraham agreed and Hagar gave birth to Ishmael when Abraham was 99 years old (16:15-16). They all expected Ishmael to be the heir of God’s covenant but the promised son would be born to Abraham through Sarah (17:19). When Abram was 99 years old God appeared to him confirming the covenant and giving circumcision as the covenant sign. After this, the Lord appeared to Abraham through three mysterious visitors and confirmed that Sarah would have her own son. Sarah laughed when she heard this but one year later Sarah gave birth to a son as God had said and they named him Isaac, meaning ‘laughter’.  Watch and listen to the story and read the comments below. 

God tested Abraham to see if he would trust God completely to fulfil God’s plan. God had opened Sarah’s womb but could Abraham trust God when asked to offer Isaac as a burnt offering? Sacrificing Isaac would have seemed completely contrary to what God had promised. After all, God had sworn to give Abraham multiple descendants and to bless the world through Isaac. Originally, God called Abraham to go to a land that God would show him. Now God was calling Abraham to go to a place where he would sacrifice his beloved promised son (Gen. 22:1). The Lord instructed Abraham to take Isaac, who was now a boy, up a mountain and offer him as a sacrifice. If God didn’t intervene Abraham would lose everything. Would Abraham love God more than his long awaited beloved son?

Abraham got up early to obey right away (Gen. 22:3). He saddled his donkey, took two servants, enough wood for the altar, and set out with Isaac for the place God had told him about. When Abraham saw the place in the distance, he told his servants to stay with the donkey while he and Isaac went up to worship and then they would return. We see Abraham’s faith when he tells his servants to stay with the donkey while they went to worship and then they would return (22:5). Isaac inquired about the lamb, and Abraham said, “God will provide the lamb… my son” (22:8). When Abraham got to that place he built an altar and put Isaac on it. Yet, before Abraham could slay his son the angel of the Lord told Abraham not to “lay a hand on the boy”. Abraham saw a ram caught in a bush, he sacrificed the ram instead of his son, and called that place ‘The Lord Will Provide’ (Gen. 22:11–12).

The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time saying, “Because you have not withheld your only son, I will bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.” God confirmed the land promise by saying that Abraham’s descendants would possess the cities of their enemies. Moreover, God said that all nations would be blessed through Abraham’s offspring because Abraham obeyed God. God wanted Abraham to be willing to offer up Isaac and Abraham’s willingness showed that he feared God. Abraham would have had to die to all his hopes and dreams to which God was not central and essential. The writer of Hebrews tells us that Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead (Heb. 11:19).

That a ram took Isaac’s place on the altar prefigures the Mosaic sacrificial system that would be practiced in the temple that would be built on that very place. It also points beyond the sacrificial system to the cross where Jesus would take the covenant curse upon himself. At the cross, God in human flesh would fulfill all that was depicted and promised in the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 15, 17). There Jesus was cut off for our sins so that we might live forever under God’s blessing. Ironically, because Abraham trusted God the covenant promises were renewed. Abraham obeyed God and because of his faithfulness Abraham would have multiple descendants and the Promised Land. We need to learn as Abraham did that one way or another God will provide and we can trust Him. A sacrifice would have to be made and God provided a substitute.

Ironically, the place where God provided a substitute for Isaac was on Mount Moriah (22:2). This is the very place where Solomon’s temple would later be built (2 Chron. 3:1). This incident would have helped Abraham understand the principle of substitutionary atonement. The ram took Isaac’s place and was sacrificed instead of Isaac (Gen. 22:13). The sacrifice of Isaac and the later sacrificial system points us to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Surely, Abraham’s experience with Isaac would have given him a unique insight into the way of salvation that would be accomplished through Jesus Christ. Jesus, like Isaac, would have to allow himself to be bound (Isa. 53:7). But for Jesus there could be no other substitute. Our God has provided the pleasing sacrifice for us, let us therefore offer all our hopes and dreams to God and let us seek to love God above anything God can give us!   

The Birth of Isaac (Gen.16-21)

In our last story the Lord appeared to Abram in a vision but Abram wanted to know what the Lord would give him since Abram was still childless. The Lord showed Abram the night sky and gave Abram the promise of multiple descendants and Abram believed the Lord (Gen.15:5-6). Then the Lord reminded Abram how He had brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give him the ‘Land of Canaan’. But Abram wanted assurance that he would possess the land so God had Abram cut up some animals and the Lord passed between the pieces which resulted the making of a covenant. The covenant relationship was initiated and established by God in order to expel Abraham’s doubts (Gen.15:8, 18-21). Now listen to or watch the story of the birth of Abraham’s chosen son Isaac and then read the comments https://www.dropbox.com/s/ao9w6zpikjd73dx/The%20Birth%20of%20Isaac..MP3?dl=0

The Birth of Isaac (Genesis 16-21).

God promised Abram descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky (Gen.15:5). However, Abram’s wife Sarai was unable to bear children and this seemed to be permanent obstacle to the fulfillment of God’s promise. So Sarai and Abram came up with a plan to help God. In that ancient culture it was permissible for a barren wife to select a surrogate to extend her family. Sarai proposed Abram take Sarai’s Egyptian maidservant, Hagar, as his wife and Abram agreed (16:2). When Abram was 86 years old Hagar bore Abram a son they named Ishmael (16:15-16). Sarai and Abram fully expected Ishmael to be the heir of God’s covenant and while this was culturally acceptable it wasn’t God’s plan.   

Abram and Sarai tried to God to validate their own plan. They grew tired of waiting on God but their plan to raise a family through Hagar became another obstacle to God’s plan. Yet despite the limitations and failures of Abram and Sarai, God would fulfill His promise in His own way. Ishmael would not be the promised heir of God’s covenant with Abram. The promised heir of God’s everlasting covenant would be Isaac, Abram’s son through Sarai (17:19).

When Abram was 99 years of age he must have wondered if God still had a purpose for him. Then God appears to Abram and reconfirms the covenant, changes Abram’s name to Abraham (father of the multitude), gives him circumcision as the covenant sign and promises Abraham a son through Sarai (whose name becomes Sarah, Gen.17:1-6). God will require that Abraham show his loyalty by walking blamelessly before the Lord. God was still committed to being God to Abraham and his descendants and God would give them their promised land (17:7–8). Moreover, Sarah would give birth to a son in a year.

Every male among Abraham’s people was to be circumcised or be cut off from the people (17:14). The sign of circumcision was not unlike the cutting of the animals in the covenant ceremony in Genesis 15. The cut animals depicted the curse of breaking the covenant coming down on the covenant breaker and God alone passed between the pieces (15:17-18, 17:7). Now the sign was to be applied to Abraham’s reproductive organ as a reminder of Abraham’s failure with Hagar and of God’s chosen seed. Those failing to receive the sign and give it to their children would be cut off from Abraham’s seed. If they trusted God they would live and die under God’s blessing but if rebelled they would be cut off from the people as Ishmael was (21:12).

God’s covenant was with Abraham and his children so the children were to receive the sign. Circumcision was a sign of entrance into the community but it didn’t automatically save them. Abraham had circumcised Ishmael and God would bless Ishmael but God’s covenant was with Isaac (17:21, 26). If they, like Abraham, trusted God they would live and die under God’s blessing but if they rebelled they would be cut off from the people. Today, water baptism testifies to our need for the washing away of sin and the imparting of the Holy Spirit. Baptism is the sign of entrance into the community of God’s people and it testifies that we must surrender to the God of the covenant or suffer the consequences (Mt.28:19, Col.2:11-12).

After this the Lord appears to Abraham and spoke to him through three mysterious messengers (Gen. 18:1-2). Abraham went to great lengths to greet them and to show hospitality to his visitors who were carrying good news. Previously when Abraham was promised a son through Sarah, a 90 year old woman, Abraham laughed. This time Sarah laughs at the news that Sarah would have a son in a year when the Lord returned (17:17, 18:12). Sarah receives what we might consider a playful rebuke because nothing is too difficult for the Lord (18:14). Ishmael, Abraham’s backup plan, would be sent away so that God’s plan could only be fulfilled by God’s miraculous intervention. God did what He said and when Sarah gave birth to a son she said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me”. They named their son Isaac, meaning ‘laughter’, and circumcised him as God had commanded (21:6-7).  

The story teaches us how critical it is that we wait patiently on the Lord as we actively seek God’s direction. We don’t need to take matters into our own hands because God can accomplish His plans and our limitations and our failures are not insurmountable obstacles to God’s purposes for us. Moreover, Isaac the child of promise points us to Jesus who when the time had fully come, God sent to be miraculously born a woman. It is through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus that we become Abraham’s children and heirs of the promise (Gal. 3:7, 14, 29). 

The Call and Covenant with Abraham (Gen.12, 15).

In our last story, we saw how all mankind was found to be ‘corrupt (6:5)’ and the earth was ‘full of violence (6:13)’ so God determined to destroy all life on the earth by means of a flood. But Noah found ‘favor in the eyes of the Lord (6:8)’ and God told Noah to build and an Ark to preserve Noah’s family and two of every kind of animal. God made a covenant with Noah and his descendants and with all the earth in order to preserve mankind and the earth for redemption. In addition, God promised a stable environment for God’s redeemed images to do God’s will on the earth. God blessed Noah and his sons telling them to multiply and fill the earth. As men moved eastward they sought to build a city reaching the heavens to ‘make a name for themselves’ and not be scattered over the whole earth. They worked together in opposition to God’s will but God came down and confused their language. They stopped building their city and they were scattered throughout the earth. Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth (Gen. 6:10) and the Lord is said to be the God of Shem (Gen. 9:26) and from Shem’s line came Abram (Gen. 11:10-26).

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uhb5itl6gjg134s/6.%20The%20Call%20and%20Covenant%20of%20Abraham..MP3?dl=0

The Lord tells Abram in a vision not to fear for He is Abram’s shield, and great reward. But Abram wanted to know what the Lord would give him since he remained childless. But a son from Abram’s own body would be his heir so the Lord showed Abram the night sky and promised him as many descendants as the stars in the sky. When God first called Abram, He promised to bless him and to bless all the peoples of the earth through him (12:1-3). Now, despite being elderly and childless, Abram believes God’s promise of multiple descendants so God accepts Abram as being righteous.  Originally God had called Adam to multiply God’s images throughout the earth. Then after the flood this responsibility was restated to Noah. Now God promises Abraham innumerable descendants in order to fill the earth with redeemed images of God and fulfill God’s kingdom expanding purpose.

The Lord reminded Abram how He had brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give him the ‘Land of Canaan’. But Abram wanted further assurance so the Lord had Abram get a heifer, a goat, a ram, with a dove and a pigeon. Abram already knew to cut the animals in two and arrange the halves opposite each other. Then at sunset a ‘dreadful darkness’ came over Abram and the Lord said that Abram’s descendants would be enslaved in another country for 400 years. The Lord would punish that nation enslaving them and Abram’s descendants would return to the land with great possessions. Abram would die at an old age, but for now the sin of the Amorites was not yet complete. Then a smoking fire-pot with a blazing torch passed between the pieces and the Lord made a covenant with Abram. The Lord promised to give Abram’s descendants the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates River. 

God had promised to make Abram into a ‘great nation’ and to give Abram’s descendants the land of Canaan (12:7). But Abram wanted assurance that the promise would come true. Abram sought the Lord’s confirmation (Gen 15:8) and the Lord answers by telling Abram to get some animals. Then Abram followed a common practice in his day of dividing animals and placing the bloody pieces opposite one another. Then a ‘dreadful darkness’ came over Abram and a smoking firepot with a blazing torch passed between the pieces (Gen 15:10-11). What did the ceremony and the visible manifestation of God mean? The cutting of the animals and passing between the pieces resulted in the ‘cutting’ or ‘making’ of a covenant. The animal carcasses symbolize the ‘curse’ to come upon the covenant breaker. When the parties involved ‘pass between the pieces’ they bind themselves together by a solemn oath. Ironically, God passes through the pieces and calls down a curse upon himself if He violates the covenant. The covenant relationship was initiated and established by God in order to expel Abraham’s doubts.

The word of God regarding the covenant came to Abram, not as a suggestion (Gen 12:1), but as a ‘sovereignly administered’ bond. Adam was to exercise his God given dominion by creating a world wholly consecrated to God. In the same way, Abram was to exercise dominion over Canaan, fill it with redeemed images and create a God glorifying culture there. But Abram had no land so in order to build Abram’s faith and expel his doubts God gave Abram the covenant. But what would it mean for the eternal and immortal God alone to pass through the animal pieces and take upon Himself the curse of the covenant? God was saying if the covenant isn’t fulfilled He would cease being God. But if any of Abraham’s children are to experience the blessing of the covenant than God must take the curse of the covenant upon Himself. While much more can be said, surely this is what the incarnation and the death of the ‘Son of God’ is all about (Gal. 3:6-8, 13-14).    

The Flood and the Noahic Covenant (Gen.6-9).

God had created the world as a beautiful environment for mankind to dwell with God. God created Adam and Eve, in His own image, to do ‘God’s will’ on the earth. As His royal representative they were to ‘fill the earth with God’s images’ and extend God’s reign throughout the earth. But, they rejected God’s purpose and because they aligned themselves with Satan they were ejected from the ‘Garden of Eden’. God promised that he would put ‘enmity’ towards Satan in the hearts of the ‘seed of the woman’ and that a man would come who would ultimately ‘crush the serpent’ (Gen.3:15). The clash between the ‘seed of the woman’ and the ‘seed of the serpent’ which characterizes all of scripture is illustrated when Cain killed his brother Abel (Gen. 4). After this the history of mankind during the ‘primeval history (Gen.1-11)’ is one of widespread sinfulness leading to God’s judgment by a worldwide flood. All mankind was found to be ‘depraved (6:5)’ and the earth was ‘full of violence (6:13)’but Noah found ‘favor in the eyes of the Lord (6:8)’ and his family was preserved. Now listen to or watch the story of Noah being told and then read the comments below.  https://www.dropbox.com/s/d4bgxorvdvyora4/5.%20The%20Flood%20and%20the%20Noahic%20Covenant..MP3?dl=0

Adam and Eve were given Seth to replace righteous Abel whom Cain killed.Seth’s line sought to do God’s will while those related to Cain sought to build cities and cultures independent of God.  We are told that the thoughts of man were only evil all the time and that the world was full of violence. This so grieved and pained God that He determined to wipe all life from the earth but that Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord (Gen.6:5-7, 8, 11).

The world continued in hardened unbelief but God chose to bestow His grace on Noah. Noah found favor with God not because Noah was righteous. The phrase ‘these are the generations of’ introduces each new section of Genesis and prevents us from thinking that Noah earned God’s favor by being righteous (2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1, 9; 37:2). Noah was righteous because Noah found ‘unmerited’ favor’ (6:8-9). Grace is grace and it is not earned or deserved. Notice how desperately Noah fell short of God’s glory even after God had delivered and made a covenant with Noah (9:20-21, Rom.3:23).

God gave grace to Noah and that grace extended to his whole family. Again and again God indicates to Noah His commitment to bring Noah and his entire house into the ark of salvation (6:18; 7:1, 7, 13, 23; 8:16, 18; 9:9, 12). God found Noah righteous in that generation (Gen. 7:1 ‘you’ singular refers to Noah) and as a result Noah’s whole family was spared from the flood. Noah, as the head of his household, and his whole family were allowed to go into the ark and were included in God’s covenant (Heb.11:7, Eph.2:8-9, Gen.9:9).

After the flood Noah offered a sacrifice to God. God was pleased and promised to put no further curse on the earth even though man’s corruption remained unaltered (8:20-21). Then the responsibilities given to Adam to multiply God’s images on the earth were given directly to Noah (1:26, 9:1, 7). God established His covenant with Noah promising not to destroy all life on the earth by a flood. God also promised to maintain a stable environment for man to do ‘God’s will’ on the earth (8:22, 9:11). Moreover, God promised to preserve the human race through Noah in order to ‘redeem the world’. God did this so that God’s redeemed images could spread God’s Kingdom reign over all the earth as God intended originally with Adam.

The sign of the rainbow emphasizes the gracious character of God’s covenant with Noah. The storm clouds depicted God’s just judgment (Isa 19:1; Rev. 1:7) while the colorful rainbow is a sign of God’s gracious presence. In the Book of Revelation the throne of God is depicted as having a rainbow around it (Rev.4:3). The flood waters meant destruction for depraved humanity (‘seed of Satan’) but God’s covenant with Noah meant life for Noah and his family who were graciously spared. The flood left man essentially unchanged for only a God-initiated ‘enmity’ toward evil in the heart can transform man. Yet, God promised in his covenant with Noah to preserve mankind and the world for the purpose redemption (3:15, 8:21, 9:1, 11).

'The Story of Cain and Abel (Gen.4)'.

God had created a beautiful garden for mankind, God’s representative, to live with God. Man was to do 'God's will' by filling the earth with God’s images, and creating a ‘God-glorifying’ world. Yet, man sought independence from God and aligned himself with Satan.  Consequently Adam and Eve where expelled from the garden. They would still be expected to fulfill God’s kingdom purpose. Now God would provide man with food but it would be by 'toilsome labor' and the ‘sweat of his brow’. They were to multiply ‘images of God’ but now with increased ‘pain in child-bearing’ and relational conflict. Now comes the story of Cain and Abel, the first story of life outside the garden. Listen or watch the story and read the comments below. https://www.dropbox.com/s/zapkrwftakpw1qc/4.%20Cain%20and%20Abel..MP3?dl=0

The Cain and Abel Story (Gen.4):

God graciously enabled Adam to have children. When Eve gave birth to Cain she was thrilled that God had helped her to have a son. Later Eve gave birth to another son, Abel, who is described as Cain’s brother. God graciously provided crops for Cain and flocks for Abel. So we see them fulfilling their responsibilities to work the ground and rule over the livestock. Cain brought some of his crops to the Lord as an offering, but the Lord was not pleased. Abel brought to the Lord the fat portions from the firstborn of his flock. Abel offered God the first and the best of what he had and the Lord was pleased. However, Cain's offering to God was not pleasing to the Lord.  

Cain was angry that God accepted Abel’s offering but was not pleased with Cain’s offering and his face was downcast. The Lord confronted Cain telling him that if he did what was right he would be accepted. Yet, if Cain didn’t do what was right then sin was crouching at his door but Cain was to master it. Yet, Cain talked Abel into going out to the field where Cain attacked and killed Abel. Ignoring God’s gracious warning Cain attacks and kills his own brother out of jealousy and envy. Again the Lord confronted Cain but Cain claims that he wasn’t responsible for brother. Cain let sin, which is a power and not just bad decisions, get a hold of him. Cain by attacking and killing his own brother, who was made in God’s image, was attacking God and showing that he belonged to the evil one (1 John 3:12).

God knew of the injustice Cain had committed for Abel’s blood was crying out for God to avenge what Cain had done (Hebrews 12:24). So God ‘curses’ Cain and drove Cain from the land and from God’s presence. Now Cain was outside the garden where work was not only difficult but now the ground would not produce crops for Cain. Cain said that being driven from the land and from God’s presence to be a restless wanderer on the earth was too severe a punishment for him. Yet, even after what Cain had done God graciously agreed to protect Cain’s life and to avenge his death if anyone would kill Cain.

The story shows the power of sin in Cain’s life. Cain ignored God’s correction and then killed his brother out of jealousy and envy. Cain lies to God, denies being responsibility for his brother, and complains that his punishment was unjust. Rather than being broken and contrite we find Cain lamenting over the consequences of his sin. The story depicts the goodness of God for we see God providing offspring for Adam and Eve and providing crops and flocks for them. God graciously warns Cain and justly punishes him but promises to protect Cain’s life. The story God's patence with even those who are unrepentant. 

The story depicts the destructive power of sin in the heart. It also shows us the conflict between the ‘seed of the serpent’ and the ‘seed of the woman’ that characterizes the history of redemption (Gen.3:15). The difference between the 'two seeds' is the ‘God-initiated enmity in the heart’ (Genesis 3:15). The clash between the two lines of humanity is illustrated in the lives of Cain and Abel. By faith Abel offers a pleasing sacrifice and is commended as righteous, while Cain’s actions showed that he belonged to the ‘evil one’.  By attacking and killing his brother Abel, Cain was attacking ‘image of God’ and attacking God (1 John 3:12, Heb.11:4). The story points us to the gospel of Jesus and his work on the cross. The blood of Jesus cries out not for vengeance but for the redemption accomplished by Christ.  

Hebrews 11:4 (NIV84) ⁴ By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

1 John 3:12 (NIV84) ¹² Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.

Celebrating God's Faithfulness!

Dear Friends and Family,

·         We’ve been reflecting on our recent trip to Malawi and celebrating God’s faithfulness.

Our 16 day trip to Malawi went so well we extended it to 23 days. After two years away we returned to take care of household business, to minister and to reconnect with friends.  It was great to preach at Kafita CCAP and Kapita CCAP, two large Churches pastored by former students. Pastor Edward Tembo told his church that when in Malawi I shouldn’t ask if I can come to Kafita to preach but I should say, ‘I’m coming to Kafita to preach’. I can only imagine the struggles of a 5000+ church with only one trained minister, but it’s encouraging that that church is led by a man who is trusting Jesus. This goes for Reverends Saka and Kayienda, former students, who are also leading large

Maula Prison Outreach. 

congregations in Lilongwe.  

A highlight of our trip was telling Biblical stories to the inmates at Maula Prison where we used to minister for over ten years. It was also great to hold another football (soccer) match where at halftime we preached the gospel to the whole prison. It was great to see what the Lord has being doing at Maula through Charles Masukwa, a former student. Charles coordinates with various organizations to improve the rehabilitation services at the prison. Since we left Malawi, a sick bay with actual beds has been built and now there is a medical clinic with a pharmacy and clinical officers. The school at the prison has improved and now there is a room with sewing machines where inmates can learn tailoring skills. God has made these prayers a reality.    

·         Reflecting on God’s faithfulness has encouraged us to look forward to God’s future faithfulness.

Story Group for Internationals. 

Being robbed three times when we arrived in South Africa and having our things stored in Malawi made transition to South Africa difficult. While crime is an ongoing challenge in South Africa having moved and sold our things in Malawi has helped our transition.  Having said ‘goodbye’ to our Malawian home we’re back in South Africa working with ‘international students’. It’s a good fit for us because most of these students are from Africa, and English is the language students from Botswana, Ghana or even Korea share. These students share the challenge of transitioning from one culture to another.  Moreover, we’re not giving out titles, degrees, school fees or anything else that can creates a dependency on a western missions. We’re simply telling Biblical stories, facilitating discussions and showing hospitality.

Christ Church Stellenbosch, our local church here, has been very gracious to us. Our girls enjoy the churches children’s programs and appreciate going to the same church weekly. I have had the opportunity to lead their service and preach several times. We want to promote a possible mission trip for our church here to go to Malawi, and could do some Biblical storytelling workshops.

o   We’re thankful for how God has answered your prayers on our behalf.

We travelled to Malawi and back safely, free from malaria any other ailments. We moved and sold most of our things. We were also able to preach some narrative sermons and teach Biblical Theology through stories in Malawi. God has been slowing growing our story group in faith and in numbers of people. Also, we were able to purchase a dependable used Honda Jazz, a civic like 5 door wagon. It’s good for the tight roads and smaller parking spaces here but big enough for our family and we really needed something.

o   We’re looking forward to how God will answer prayer in the future.

We would like to find housing more suited to showing hospitality to students that is affordable and close to the University. We’re still praying that our girls will make good friends as they did in Malawi and in the states. Also we pray that we will continue to settle in and be more focused on the work God has for us in South Africa.  

Zikomo Kwambiri (thanks very much),

Jay, Laura, Clara, Katherine and Lauren Stoms

Cheers!  

The Fall of Man (Gen.3).

From Genesis 2 we learn that God had created a beautiful garden for mankind to take care of and live in God’s presence. Man, as God’s image, was to expand God’s reign throughout the earth by doing ‘God’s will on the earth’. He was to work the garden, fill the earth with God’s images, and create a ‘God-glorifying’ world. This brings us to the 'Story of the fall of man' from Genesis 3. Watch the video or listen to the story and then read the comments below. https://www.dropbox.com/s/yz2agd8816uph29/3.%20The%20Fall%20of%20Man..MP3?dl=0

The mysterious serpent was the craftiest animal and surprisingly able to speak. The serpent also knew the terms of God’s relationship with His image. The serpent challenged the woman regarding God’s prohibition not to eat from the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ (Gen.2:17). The serpent questions God’s good intention and made it seem laughable that God would prevent them from eating from any tree in the garden. This got Eve to focus on what God had forbidden rather than on all the privileges and responsibilities God gave them (3:1-3).

The serpent engaged the woman in a conversation about how God was withholding good from them. Eve said that they would die if they ate from the tree, but the serpent said they wouldn’t die. The serpent claimed God was restricting them because God knew that if they ate from the tree they would be like God; knowing good and evil. So the serpent accused God of deliberately withholding good from them.  

Eve entertained the serpent’s accusation against God, and saw the fruit of the tree as desirable source of wisdom apart from God and God’s word. She took the fruit and ate and gave some to her husband who was with her. Adam was right there but he remained silent as Eve discussed the serpent’s accusations about God. Eve ignored God’s prohibition and she ate and Adam took some of the fruit from her and ate himself. Adam failed to protect Eve from the serpent’s deception and so together the tested Eve’s hypothesis that the fruit of the tree was good for acquiring wisdom and they went against God’s word (3:4-6).

Their eyes were opened to their nakedness so they covered themselves and hid in the trees when they heard God. God comes looking for Adam and while God knew what had happened he was giving Adam opportunity to confess what he had done. But Adam only acknowledged that he was afraid so he hid from God. God said, “Have you eaten from the tree I told you not to eat?” Again God’s not asking for information but is giving Adam opportunity to acknowledge his guilt. Yet, Adam blames the woman and God by saying that he ate because of the woman God had given Adam gave him the fruit. Adam justified his role claiming that it was the woman given him by God who was to blame for the incident (3:7, 10-12).

Now God seeks out Eve to give her the opportunity to confess. But Eve also justifies her actions by shifting blame to the serpent that deceived her and by implication God who let it happen. God simply curses the serpent to crawl on his belly and eat dust. The serpent successfully brought down man, but God promises that a man, a seed of the woman, will come who will crush the serpent. As God pronounces judgment he also announces that a ‘saving hero’ will crush the serpents head and God will initiate an enmity towards the serpent in the hearts of some of the woman’s seed. The coming hero will receive a strike at his heels but he will deliver a fatal blow to the serpent’s head (3:13-15).

God tells the woman that her pain in childbearing would increase and that she will desire her husband who would rule over her. Eve would play a vital role in filling God’s world with God’s images but now she would experience relational conflict and increased pain in childbirth. Because Adam stood by and listened to his wife and the serpent question God’s word and then ate the forbidden fruit, God ‘cursed’ the ground.  The ground will produce food for Adam but ‘thorns and thistles’ also. They will eat food but through painful toil and the sweat of man’s brow until he returns to the ground because man is dust and to dust he shall return (3:16-19).

The Lord clothed them with garments of skin and drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden. He placed an angel with a flaming sword east of the Garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life. As punishment they were expelled from the special place where God dwelt with and spoke with His ‘royal representatives’. Then God placed an angel with a flaming sword east of the Garden of Eden to guard them from the fruit from the tree of life (3:21-24). In their fallen state, apart from God, they would have to wait for someone, namely Jesus, to come and crush the serpent and restore access to the tree of life (Gen.3:15, Rev.22:2, 19). 

The Creation of Man (Gen.2).

In Genesis 1 the good God created a beautiful world and created man, in His own image, to be His representative on the earth. God made man responsible to reflect God’s creative activity in his work, and to reproduce God’s images on the earth. In this story the Bible backs up to when God created Adam, or ‘man’ (2:7, 20), and women from the man. God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into him the breath of life transforming the dust into a living image of God (12:7b, 1:26-27). Watch the video and or listen to the story and then read the commentary below. https://www.dropbox.com/s/jdse50iqo3opokn/The%20Creation%20of%20Man..MP3?dl=0 

God had a garden in Eden and He put the man (2:8, 15) in the garden to ‘work it and take care of it’. In the garden there were various trees and in the middle of the garden where the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (2:9). Adam was free to eat from any of the trees (2:16) but he was not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or he would surely die (2:17). Then the Lord had Adam name all the animals, but no suitable helper for Adam was found (2:19–20). This was ‘not good (2:18) so God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. God made a woman from man’s rib and brought her to the man and Adam said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh (2:23).

God created a suitable helper for man to help him fulfill his God given responsibilities. God’s purposed for man to rule over all the earth and to fill the earth with ‘images of God’. This was a job that was too big and too grand for Adam alone. As God’s ‘royal representative’ man was to consecrate all creation and do God’s will on the earth in submission to God’s word. To do this man was given the privileges of worship, work and marriage (Gen. 2:3, 15, 25) and was restricted from eating from the tree of the knowledge of God and evil.

All men retain these responsibilities but after the fall (Gen.3) we have lost the ability to fulfill God’s purpose. God created man and called him to extend the beauty of Eden throughout the earth and to multiply ‘images of God’ who would do ‘God’s will’ on the earth. Adam and all his descendants have failed to do this but Jesus, the second Adam (1 Cor.15:22), achieves this and enables us to participate through our union with him by faith. Through Jesus and His word and Spirit we are renewed in God’s image and can do ‘God’s Will’ on the earth. Through faith in Christ we are to reflect God’s character, imitate God’s creative activity in our work, and seek to fill the earth with ‘redeemed’ images. We are all called to fill the earth with God’s redeemed images and we are to do this through marriage and child bearing and through the work of ‘evangelism’ (Mat. 28:19–20). 

'Our Malawi Summer Vacation'

Dear Friends and Family, 

It may be summer in the states, but not here in Africa. In the Western Cape its now winter. The weather here is like California; Northern California that is. But here the homes aren’t heated so you can be colder inside than out. I’m glad that I bought two pairs of fleece lined pants which I bought at Eddie Bauer. It seems I wear them almost every day. We even wear our jackets indoors here. So between the weather and being between semesters at the University of Stellenbosch this was the perfect time for our whole family to return to Malawi.

These guys did a great job moving us! 

We went to Malawi, not for the warmer weather, but for a couple of important reasons. First we had to move ‘our stuff’. We have had ‘our stuff’ stored in one room in our old duplex at African Bible College for the past two years. When we left Malawi two years ago, we didn’t know whether we would return to ABC or not. We only knew that the college was moving in one direction and the Lord was moving us in another direction. When we left things were not particularly clear to us so we never said any formal ‘goodbyes’. Since that time we have been in transition but ‘our stuff’ stayed where it was packed away in one room of what was our home for ten years.

Ironically Malawi was almost closed to us before we returned. South Africa just recently implemented a new law that requires those traveling with children to carry birth certificates. While we had all this to get our South African visas but they were locked in a safe in our flat in Stellenbosch. They weren’t going to let us through immigration until Clara cried and made a scene. This got us through but they said we couldn’t get back in without them. That was one fit that I really didn’t mind. When we arrived in Malawi the ministry opportunities we were considering never materialized. Not only had the ‘School of Storying’ fallen through but the Conference Centre our friends wanted to build had suffered some serious setbacks. So we were really left with no other choice but to move and sell ‘our stuff’.

Saying 'goodbye' to 'our stuff'!

A former colleague at ABC was so gracious to us that it was humbling. He let us stay in his house while he was away so were able to use his garage and container to move and sort through our things. We were able to move, unpack, sort through and sell almost everything that we had. The cost of moving it to South Africa would have been close to the same price to put it on a shipping container and send it to the states. Well it was a busy few weeks but everything came together beautifully. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away! A former student, now a ‘Member of Parliament’, bought almost all of our furniture. So we said ‘goodbye’ to both ‘our stuff’ and to many good friends and former students. Our girls loved playing on the ABC campus with some old and some new friends. The warmer weather and the familiar surroundings were a real blessing.

Pempo & Livinia; former students & babysitters. 

We also had some significant opportunities to do ministry while we were there. We taught and told Biblical stories at the prison where we ministered for several years. We also taught a couple times at a hospital chapel, and preached three times at Churches pastored by former students. Everything really went pretty miraculously. The US embassy in Malawi was able to give us birth certificate for Katherine since her passport was renewed there. But when we went to the South African High Commission they said we wouldn’t be able to get back into South Africa without birth certificates for each child. However, while I was in line I read their law which was posted on the wall. The law said that if the child has a valid South African visa then the law requiring a birth certificate no longer applies. When I pointed this out it seemed to be news to them. They printed a copy of the law which the signed and stamped and when we showed it to immigration we had no trouble getting back into South Africa.

Thanks for your prayers and support,

Jay, Laura, Clara, Katherine and Lauren Stoms